PG - That's what I thought. I have a larger head and neck than normal for my chest, so I end up getting collars cut larger / longer / higher slightly to keep a good frame. I'll have to get some shorter collar stays as well. If herringbone goes under, do you think we could persuade Ethan to do a start up?

After a brief search for some brown shoes before christmas, I finally bought some florsheims.

I looked at a few of the overseas sites like Plal and pediwear, but with the weaker Australian dollar they didn't seem to be that much of a bargain when I can't even try them on.
As an aside, I do feel its kind of sad that I couldn't be any more specific than - brown leather soled lace up - when searching in sydney... If I used the words "brogue" or "medallion" or even "welt", most SA's gave me a weird look
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They feel alright to me. Look nice to my untrained eyes. I even got a compliment from the guy at Coombs (in the Strand) when I went to get some leather conditioner. He also convinced me not to try and darken them with polish (even though I wanted only one shade darker).

Nice choice KD, the Florsheims seem to be the pick of the litter when it comes to advertised shoes in Sydney.

I completely agree that the Sydney market is purely driven by 'name', and there is little ability to detect quality craftsmanship. This isn't helped by the fact that clothiers are so quick to employ 18 year old blondes in their stores who have NFI about the product, as opposed to a 60 year old man with a measuring tape around his neck, who could probably tell you the type of grass the cow ate before it turned into leather.

I'm reading the papers and watching the TV for one of those obnoxious liquidation sales ads telling me to make my way to some dusty pavilion where I can pick up some of their shirts for 50% off. Besides, if they eventually end in liquidation, their stuff could get a real collector's item edge to it...

PG - That's what I thought. I have a larger head and neck than normal for my chest, so I end up getting collars cut larger / longer / higher slightly to keep a good frame. I'll have to get some shorter collar stays as well.

If herringbone goes under, do you think we could persuade Ethan to do a start up?

- I hope so..

Quote:

Originally Posted by appolyon

How is that a problem? If they liquidate we get to stock up on some great shirts (and similar shirts can be found at cheaper prices).

- unfortunately for me, my size is always in limited supply so if I don;t buy then some other guy or WORSE a SFer will get it ..
- also the good stuff never seem to make it to the sale as they are snapped up by staff or VIP customers
- finally the good fabrics they use for the bespoke shirt service is in small supply unlike the OTR shirts which are OK, but I prefer to wear my bespoke shirts as the cut & he Thomas Mason fabric is far superior (as one would expect)

And besides, they really should have gotten to know the market better and understood that the Australian market could not support $200 OTR shirts.

Whilst I do think that Herringbone's shirts are a bit overpriced, I don't think that's the reason for their problems, as there are plenty of brands in Australia selling far more poorly-made shirts than those produced by Herringbone for prices ranging from $170 to $200, and they haven't gone into voluntary administration.

Whilst I really have no idea, I suspect that Herringbone simply opened a few too many loss-making stores that cannibalised on each other's sales, and that perhaps the owners took on too much debt in the process of opening the stores. Things probably would have been alright if sales didn't slump in Q4 last year.

I heard yesterday that the VA period has been extended by another 45 days whilst various options are investigated, so Herringbone should still be around for at least another six weeks, and hopefully much longer than that!

Whilst I do think that Herringbone's shirts are a bit overpriced, I don't think that's the reason for their problems, as there are plenty of brands in Australia selling far more poorly-made shirts than those produced by Herringbone for prices ranging from $170 to $200, and they haven't gone into voluntary administration.

Whilst I really have no idea, I suspect that Herringbone simply opened a few too many loss-making stores that cannibalised on each other's sales, and that perhaps the owners took on too much debt in the process of opening the stores. Things probably would have been alright if sales didn't slump in Q4 last year.

I heard yesterday that the VA period has been extended by another 45 days whilst various options are investigated, so Herringbone should still be around for at least another six weeks, and hopefully much longer than that!